1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a system and method for providing an action bar in a location proximate to a user selection.
2. Description of the Related Art
A primary purpose of computer systems is to retrieve and display data to users to allow the users the ability to act upon the data. Data is displayed on display screens, ranging from small displays included in devices such as personal digital displays (PDAs) to very large displays used to display large amounts of data. In addition, resolutions on modern displays has increased dramatically, with higher resolutions allowing more data to be displayed in smaller area.
User interfaces, such as tables and trees, are often used to display large quantities of data. Traditional display objects are challenged by their inability to quickly and effectively display available actions that pertain to the user selection. Users are often forced to scroll the data on the screen, perform numerous actions, and visually identify user interface components, such as icons, that pertain to data show the screen. This challenge is exacerbated when the user interfaces are separated from the data selected by the user. This is exceedingly so when the user is using a display with a small font size, allowing more rows or columns of data to be between the user selection and the user interface components.
What is needed, therefore, is a system and method for displaying an action bar in a location proximate to users selection. In addition, what is needed is a system and method for displaying those user interface controls that can be applied to a particular selection.